A blog about Antique and Antiquarian Books. Mostly pictures of, and links to websites about Book collections, news items etc.
A supplement to my first blog at Bibliohistoria.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Various Old and Ancient Books - Part 4

Anglican Liturgie in French 1764

Leonardo Da Vinci's original notebook - he wrote in mirror writing.

Leo Africanus 1632

La Graunde Abridgement 1565

September 21, 2006The oldest book in South Texas College of Law’s Fred Parks Library now dates back to the year 1565. The new acquisition is La Graunde Abridgement by Sir Anthony Fitzherbert.

The massive book, written in Latin, is a compilation of over 14,000 decisions that are the foundation for early English law. English law is grounded in common law, meaning that precedent guided judicial decisions, and this tome was the first thorough attempt made in the 1500's to create a summary of law providing attorneys with a resource for researching past rulings.

This edition of La Graunde Abridgement is from the second printing of the book in 1565. The first edition was printed in 1516. The author, Fitzherbert, was a Judge of Common Pleas in England.